6 replies to this topic

[Zakatak]

You now have control over a new country, about the same size as Texas. The population is about 15 million people, whose standard of living is similar to Canada. The is surrounded by water on 2 sides, connected to land by 2 sides. The military budget they have is 1 trillion $, and you don't have any tensions or affiliations with any countries yet, so you can purchase your military from anyone without additional benefits. You have 3 branches, naval, air, and land. Whether you want to peacekeep or police is up to you!

What do you spend it on? No exceeding the budget!

Airforce:
160x JAS-39 Gripen N/G (60M per unit)
80x MQ-9 Reaper (35M per unit)
40x Airbus A400M (135M per unit)
30x BAe Hawk 128 (20M per unit)
5x E-3G Sentry (300M per unit)

I wanted to go as multi-role and modular as possible. The Gripen N/G can pretty much do anything you want it to do, and is cheap to maintain and fairly advanced. The Reaper can act in the long-endurance surveillance role and the anti-armor role, and doesn't put lives at risk (due to being remote controlled). The A400M can be a long or short range cargo plane, and doubles as in-flight refuelling. The Hawk is for training new pilots. The Sentry's can find targets 500km away and can cover the borders.

Army:
800x LAV III (1.5M per unit)
90x M119 Howitzer (0.5M per unit)
80x Eurocopter Tiger (30M per unit)
100x EH101 Merlin (20M per unit)
1600x Jackal (0.5M per unit)

Again, went with multi-role and modular. I read a post about a soldier who had a theory that the majority of roles needed for the Canadian military could be filled by an LAV, and would negate the need for tanks and many other vehicles entirely. The LAV can do anything from infantry combat, to recon, to bridge laying, to towing, to anti-tank (with TOW), to transport. IED, 20mm, and RPG protection kits can be bolted on. Eurocopter can be fitted for anti-armor, CAS, or recon. EH101 can do transport, SAR, or lifting. The M119 can be airlifted by the helicopters. The Jackal is much safer then the Humvee and can easily survive IED explosions.

Navy:
2x Gerald R. Ford carrier (10B per unit)
8x Virginia Submarine (2B per unit)
8x Arleigh-Burke Destroyer (2B per unit)
4x Ticonderoga Missile Cruiser (4B per unit)
6x Oliver Perry Frigates (1B per unit)
2x Cimarron Replishment Oiler (2B per unit)
20x Cyclone Coastal Patrol Ships (0.5B per unit)
60x Sea Gripen (60M per unit)
6x E-2D Hawkeye (200M per unit)
30x EH101 Merlin (20M per unit)

The idea is to have 2 carrier strike groups capable of defending themselves, with E-2D being available for AWACS or refuelling. The Cyclone's and 4 of the submarines provide coastal protection if the carrier groups are away (I'll usually have 1 at home).

Alright, I spent 120 billion $ on vehicles, and I'm too lazy to account for missiles and weapons. Throw half of what is lest on research, oil, fuel, electronics, missiles, bullets, maintenance, and guns. For guns I want the Robinson Arms XCR-L/M for carbine/PDW/rifle/DMR role. I'll save the other 500B$ for something else.

[SkyChuffer]

The rule of my nation would be under a humanistic-dictatorship where freedom of speech is allowed.
The goal of the nation is to improve on our level of technology and medicine. A lot of focus would be put on keeping the people happy.
The school system would be rewamped into something that actually works and doesn't force people to study to death.

There would be no silly codes of morality that prevents us from research tech or meds and as such, we'd invite promising researchers to our country. Religion is up to each and everyone what they want to believe but it'll never be a cornerstone in our society nor will it have any kind of influence or saying about the decisions of the nation.

We would not buy weapons from other nations, we'd build them ourselves.

This is actually a plan I have to write down and hope it gets implemented sometime in the future before we can jump over to a Star Trek-ish future.

[Vulpesveritas]

You just had to bring me this, eh Zak? Well alright then, time to start cracking.

Air Force:
50 Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors (145m/ea - 7.5bn)
200 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets (65m/ea- 13bn)
5 E-3G Sentry (300M/ea-1.5bn)
50 Airbus A400M (135M/ea- 6.7.bn)
200 Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (12m/ea- 2.4bn)
20 B-52H [modernized] (50m/ea - 1bn)
200 AGM-129 ACM [nuclear warheads] (1m/ea - 200m total)

~40 billion on air force

The B-52s are mostly there as nuclear deterrents the core of the air force is the F-22 raptors as a first-strike interceptor, given their stealth characteristics and supercruise capability. The F/A 18 super hornet was chosen due to it's ability as a multi-role aircraft, and that it doesn't require an exceptionally long air strip, increasing the number able to take off in the case of an air raid getting past the outer air defense set up by the AWACS and F-22s. A10's are used for primary ground attack given their reliability, firepower, and cost-effectiveness.


Army:
200 Challenger II MBT (5m/ea- 1bn)
400 LAV III (1.5m/ea- 600m)
200 Bradely M2A3 (3m/ea- 600m)
1500 HMMWV [armored] (350k/ea- 525m)
75 Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche (7.5m/ea- 560m)
100x M119 Howitzer (0.5M/ea - 50m)
200 Davy Crockett Artillery Rounds [nuclear warheads] (1m/ea - 200m total)
100 Boeing CH-47 Chinook (35m/ea - 3.5bn)

~6.5bn

The army is set up defensively, with the Challenger II MBT in the lead, a mix of LAVs and Bradleys for IFVs, and HMMWVs with armor kits. the HMMWV was chosen given it's 360 protection vs small arms fire for those within the vehicle. The Comanche was chosen due to it's stealth characteristics, and the Chinook for it's weight capacity. Nuclear deterrent via nuclear artillery shells are available.



Navy:

4 Modernized w/ AEGIS system. CIWS, and nuclear powered Battleships [BB-61 Iowa Class as base reference for hull and non-missile armament] (5bn/ea - 20bn)
2 Gerald R. Ford carrier (10bn/ea- 20bn)
2 Cimarron Replishment Oiler (2bn/ea - 4bn)
6 Oliver Perry Frigates (1bn/ea- 6bn)
2 DDG-1000 Zumwalt Destroyers (3.5bn/ea- 7bn)
10x Virginia Submarine (2bn/ea- 20bn)
20 Trident ballistic missiles [nuclear warheads] (25m/ea - 500m total.)
6 E-2D Hawkeye (200m/ea- 1.2bn)
100 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets (65m/ea- 6.5bn)
30 SH-3 Sea King (6m/ea- 180m)
20 Pegasus class hydrofoils (es. 500m/ea- 10bn)

~76bn

Two defensive carrier task forces, with modernized battleships able to cover the flanks of the aircraft carriers directly. More nuclear deterrents and a high speed patrol boats capable of anti-ship action.


Infantry:

Standard issue rifle;
(estimated)-100,000 LWRCI M6A5 w/ SOPMOD kit and custom order modification [6.5mm grendel ammo modification, full auto, estimated increase in cost / unit; +$500] ($3,000/ea- 300m) with 16" barrel, forward hand grip, and reflex sight
-24" barrel, bipod, and optical sight for designated marksman rifles
-20" barrel, bipod, and 100 round drum for squad automatic weapon

Man-portable anti-tank weapon:
M47 Dragon

Standard PDW:
Kriss Vector

Standard Sidearm:
H&K USP Compact Tactical

Armor:
Infantry; 100,000 units: Trojan S Armor system (50k/ea- 5bn) (if proven effective, otherwise, opt for Dragonskin level V @ 10k/ea)

Armor Crews: 10,000 units: Dragonskin level V with ACH (10k/ea- 100m)

Air crews: 10,000 units; Kevlar vest w/ ballistic foam backing with ACH, seals for face masks for fighters and bombers, and HUD (2k/ea- 20m)

Ammo:
Rifles: Custom 120gr FMJBT, tungsten tip.
Pistols: Remington 230gr FMJ .45 ACP


Infantry weapon choice is made on limiting ammo types used to three: 6.5 grendel rounds have great ballistics all-around, with the capability to be used at range (although not quite as long range as 7.62 NATO, it comes close) while retaining high penetration capability and low ammo weight. The M6 series platform from LWRCI was chosen as it has been shown to be highly reliable, while being slightly lighter than the H&K 416/417, and being more sustainable for full automatic fire with the open-bolt position being available. .45 ACP is chosen for pistol rounds with the Kriss Vector and sidearm pistol for interchangeability, and the USP compact Tactical is a light and accurate pistol chambered for said ammo. The dragon anti-tank missile is chosen for it's top-down attack capability, giving it a better chance than any other man-portable anti-tank weapon at downing a modern main battle tank.

While the trojan armor system is unproven beyond the tests by Troy Hurtubise, if they proved to be truthful it gives full body protection against more or less everything infantry-carried.
Dragonskin level V is the standard backup, giving protection against most center-of-mass shots. It is also used by tank crews given that it is less bulky and as such is easier to navigate the cramped quarters of a tank in.
Kevlar vests are used by air crews to protect against shrapnel and to give them some degree of protection should they be downed from their plane, the ballistic foam lessens ballistic trauma from bullets, and although it increases bulk somewhat, being only used in the center of the torso it does not restrict movement.


Overall, it's set up for defense. As Zak did, there is more than half the budget available for ammo / food / other weapons / whathaveyou.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 10 October 2012 - 06:49 PM.

[Schwarzer Adler]

Your lack of military expertise is disturbing.

Why the hell, don't you plan for any Battlemech Regiments, Battle Armor Platoons or Dropships? Not to mention real warships like the McKenna-Class? I sincerely advise you to rework your "defense" strategies.

[Vulpesveritas]

Am I the only one with interest in this thread? lol

[PirateLincoln]

You had me at Gripen...


But for reals, this reminds me of the paper-and-pencil RPG called Wild Blue: In Harm's Way. Granted it's about building a mercenary unit and not the armed forces for a nation, but still...

[The Smith]

I like the idea, but lets face it; a nation the size of Texas could never hope to spend 1 trillion USD on defense articles. I would scale this back to a more realistic budget. Nations the size of Texas don't have super carriers... well most of them don't.